Dominant Real Madrid & Barcelona Have Won Two Thirds Of All La Liga Titles
La Liga is one of the world’s biggest and most exciting football leagues, with some of the game’s best players. However, who are the most successful teams in the history of the Spanish top flight?
Well, Real Madrid and Barcelona, of course, you don’t need to read this to know that. What you may not know is quite how dominant they have been. At the time of writing they have won 63 titles out of 93 titles available to them since 1929, that is 68%.
Real Madrid (36 La Liga titles)
Unsurprisingly, Real Madrid is the most successful club in Spanish top-flight history, having won 36 titles. Their debut title triumph in La Liga came in season 1931/32, when they were playing in their former guise of Madrid FC.
Los Blancos are one of only three clubs to have never been relegated from La Liga since the league’s foundation in 1929.
As of the end of season 2023/24, Real Madrid had won an incredible 71 trophies in all competitions, including a record 15 Champions League titles.
The most successful head coach in the club’s history in La Liga was the club’s former midfielder Miguel Munoz, who won the Spanish top flight on nine occasions.
Munoz oversaw the team’s winning of a record five straight La Liga titles from 1961 until 1965. The team contained the legendary Ferenc Puskas and Alfredo Di Stefano, to name but a few star players. Many still consider it one of the greatest teams the game has ever produced.
Other club legends such as Carlo Ancelotti and Zinedine Zidane have also coached the team to two La Liga titles.
Barcelona (27 La Liga titles)
Real Madrid’s eternal rivals in the Spanish game, Barcelona, are lagging behind the Madridistas in terms of top-flight titles in Spain, having won La Liga on 27 occasions.
Like their bitter rivals, Barcelona was a founding member of the Spanish top flight in 1929. In fact, the Catalan giants were the first-ever winners of La Liga.
Few will be surprised to learn the identity of Barcelona’s most successful head coach, the great Johan Cruyff.
The Dutchman managed the Catalan giants from 1988 until 1996, winning a highly impressive four La Liga titles. In fact, Cruyff guided Barcelona to four straight titles from 1991 until 1994.
He created the ‘Dream Team’, which included players such as Michael Laudrup, Romario, Gheorghe Hagi, and Hristo Stoichkov. It also contained a future managerial great in Pep Guardiola.
Emotional Dream Team tribute to Johan Cruyff. This is the video as seen at Camp Nou #GràciesJohan https://t.co/fZ1hg8UboF
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) April 2, 2016
Guardiola is the second most successful Barcelona head coach in terms of La Liga titles and is regarded as one of the best in the game’s history.
As Blaugrana boss, he won La Liga three times in just four seasons and an incredible 14 pieces of silverware in his relatively short time in Catalonia, making him the club’s most successful coach in total trophies won.
Because of his team’s success, Guardiola’s Barcelona is often considered one of the best teams in modern football history. Lionel Messi, Xavi, and Andres Iniesta starred in Guardiola’s team and became football icons and legends during those trophy-laden four years.
Atletico Madrid (11 La Liga titles)
For much of its history, Atletico Madrid has lived in the shadow of not only its city rivals, Real, but also Barcelona when it comes to the Spanish top flight.
However, at times during their history, Los Colchoneros have punched above their weight in terms of finances against the two giants of the Spanish game. Atletico have won the Spanish top-flight on 11 occasions, with their first title coming in season 1939/40.
In terms of the men responsible for those La Liga successes, two Argentinians share the mantle of Atletico’s most successful coaches in La Liga, Helenio Herrera and Diego Simeone.
The legendary Herrera managed the team from the Spanish capital from 1949 until 1952, winning La Liga on two occasions in 1950 and 1951. He also coached Barcelona on two separate occasions.
Simeone is something of an Atletico Madrid stalwart, having not only coached Los Colchoneros but also captained the team to a La Liga title during his playing career.
As head coach, the former Argentinian international matched his compatriot Herrera by winning La Liga on two occasions in 2014 and 2021. Both victories were against the odds, as has been the case for much of their history, as title rivals Real Madrid and Barcelona had far bigger resources.
Athletic Club (8 La Liga titles)
The proud Basque giants have won La Liga on eight occasions over the years, which is an impressive achievement considering that the club still enforces a rule requiring players to be Basque-born or trained.
Interestingly, the rule means French players from the Labourd, Soule, and Lower Navarre areas qualify to play for Athletic Club.
Los Leones’ Spanish titles have been spread throughout their history. However, their first La Liga triumph came in just the second season of the competition, in 1930.
In fact, from that inaugural title win until 1936, the boys from Bilbao were crowned Spanish champions on four occasions. Along with Real Madrid and Barcelona, Athletic have never suffered relegation from the Spanish top-flight.
Their most successful head coach in La Liga was iconic English coach Fred Pentland, who inspired Athletic to their first Spanish titles in 1930 and 1931. The former Middlesbrough star was in his second spell as Athletic’s head coach. He also coached Atletico Madrid in three separate periods.
Valencia (6 La Liga titles)
Although Los Ches has struggled for success in recent years, they are still regarded as one of Spain’s traditional big clubs, having been crowned champions of the Spanish top flight on six occasions.
Half of Valencia’s La Liga titles came in its glory days of the 1940s, when Los Ches won the title in 1942, 1944, and 1947.
However, Rafael Benitez, a more recent employee of the club, is the most successful head coach the team has ever had when it comes to winning Spanish top-flight titles.
The Madrid-born tactician managed Los Ches from 2001 until 2004 when he helped the club become Spanish champions in 2002 and 2004. No other Valencia head coach has guided the team to multiple La Liga titles.
A team containing Ruben Baraja, Pablo Aimar, and Roberto Ayala helped Los Ches make history in the 2002 triumph, ending a 31-year wait for the club to be crowned champions of Spain.